Libyans March in Tripoli, Benghazi, Calling for Less Secrecy From Leaders

By Chris Stephen -
Dec 13, 2011

Libyans took to the streets of
Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi, accusing the ruling
National Transitional Council of being too secretive about its
membership structure and finances.

“We sacrificed a lot in this war,” Salwa Bugaighis, a
lawyer in Benghazi and a former member of the NTC before she
resigned in August over a lack of transparency in its decision-
making process, said in an interview. “We want democracy.”

Bugaighis said protesters set up a tented encampment today
at Benghazi’s Maidan al-Shagera, or Tree Square, and will not
leave until the NTC enacts new rules on transparency and
releases the names and resumes of all its members.

The NTC was formed by rebels in March and took control of
the capital Tripoli in August, sending the late leader Muammar Qaddafi into hiding. After Qaddafi died in October, the NTC
began the process of trying to centralize political and military
authority while preparing the country for elections due by June.

While the official NTC website states it has 33 members,
not all of whom are identified, the council said it had 48
members when announcing the election of Prime Minister
Abdulrahman El-Keib in November.

Libya’s access to $168 billion in former regime funds
worldwide frozen under United Nations sanctions is dependent on
the governing authority being able to demonstrate accountability
and transparency in its banking system, Alastair Burt, Britain’s
foreign minister for Africa and the Middle East, said last week.

The Temporary Financing Mechanism, an organization set up
by the Libya Contact Group in April to finance humanitarian aid
from frozen funds, is due to hand over financial
responsibilities for assets released to the Libyan government on
Dec. 31, TFM official, Mazin Ramadan, said in an interview.

Benghazi March

Some 20,000 protesters marched through Benghazi today in
the largest demonstration against the NTC so far. In comments to
Libyan television stations, protesters also complained that
salaries were not being paid and that the city had been without
a government since the NTC moved to Tripoli.

Smaller protests took place outside Tripoli’s luxury Rixos
hotel, state television reported.

Shebab Thwar, or Revolutionary Youth, a small student
group, says protesters also want the NTC to state whether
any of its members have relatives recently appointed to
government jobs and release records of member’s salaries and
meetings.

“The demands we have are not high, they are just basic
demands of the revolution,” Osama Khofi of Shebab Thwar told
Libya’s Al Ahrar television. “We have liberated Libya for all
Libyans, not for some Libyans to have a nice position.”